It has been recognized in the prior art as desirable to mount a seat belt directly to the vehicle seat so that adjustment of the seat belt coincides with the adjusting movement of the seat. Various devices have been provided to act between the seat belt anchor on the seat and the vehicle floor to transfer occupant restraint loads to the floor.
Certain of these mechanisms include parts which are designed to deform upon imposition of a predetermined occupant restraint load to allow locking of a locking device. Examples of such parts are shear pins, bendable flanges or tabs, and crushable members which expose locking surfaces when severed. Some of these mechanisms require a considerable amount of seat belt travel before locking of the mechanism is achieved.
It would be desirable to provide a belt load anchorage mechanism which requires a minimal amount of belt travel in the occupant loading direction before lock-up occurs.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide such a belt load anchorage mechanism which requires a minimal amount of belt travel before lock-up, yet which allows free adjusting movement of the vehicle seat.
Another object of the invention is to provide a belt load anchorage mechanism which is repeatably functioning and does not include design features which incorporate sacrificial parts which must be discarded and replaced after the imposition of an occupant restraint load of a significant magnitude.
A further object of the invention is to provide a locking device for a belt load anchor mechanism which increases in its locking force as the magnitude of the imposing belt load is increased.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a seat belt attachment which can pivot in multiple directions to better manage and direct the occupant restraint load along a desired path.